Why Your Reasons for Demanding a Tip are Wrong

Waiters are understandably upset about why I don’t tip and have given many illogical reasons in support of this ridiculous practice. Here’s a rebuttal of the most common ones.

Bullshit 1: We only Pay for the Food. Service is Extra

The menu price doesn’t include just the cost of preparing the food and paying the chef. It includes the restaurant setting, the tables, the cutlery, the effort and investment that the restaurant owner has put into the dining area. Now guess what? Since I’m paying for it, the restaurant has to give it to me. And how do they accomplish this?

Waiters. Ding ding!

See without waiters, the restaurant has no way of delivering the dining experience to me that I’m paying for. I’m paying for sitting down in a nice place. I’m paying for the air conditioning. I’m paying for the nice tablecloth and for my food to be delivered to me in a reasonable time. The menu price covers all this. Waiters are just the restaurant’s way of bringing me my food. Of fulfilling their part of the contractual obligation.

Bottom line. Servers are not independent contractors. They’re not an “extra” that you have to pay for. By hook or crook, the restaurant needs to deliver the product. Whether they use waiters or conveyor belts (a term that many seem to object to), is not my business. I don’t care. The waiters can just melt into the background and let me enjoy my food in peace. If the menu includes free refills or whatever, then waiters are required to deliver that as well. Why? Because…wait for it….I paid for it!

Bullshit 2: It’s the custom. It’s ‘merica!

Yeah right. You do realize that not all customs are created equal don’t you? Slavery was a “custom” back in the day and so was race and sexual discrimination. Anyone with an ounce of integrity does what they feel is right. There are many harmless customs in the world like bowing instead of shaking hands, or using chopsticks instead of forks etc that are morally neutral. It really makes no difference if you follow them or not.

But tipping? Hell no! It’s not morally neutral. If you get better service because you’re a good tipper, then you’re essentially paying a bribe to servers to get them to do their job properly next time. All customs have a limit. And tipping is such a convenient custom isn’t it? Hell, I wish I had a custom in place for people to just throw money at me.

And just in case someone feels I don’t appreciate the US, there are many great things about this country that I love and I’ve blogged about repeatedly. Freedom of expression, the way Americans show respect to their armed forces, the politeness of people as you walk by on the road, the work culture, the individuality.

I just don’t like tipping. It’s not as if a person has to blindly accept everything in a country without judgment. There are good things. And there are bad things. Just like everywhere else.

Bullshit 3: The cost of food will increase dramatically

Someone needs to do basic math. Increasing the price of food to pay minimum wage to waiters will not double the price of food. Some have even gone so far to claim that it’ll increase 4-5 times. Ridiculous. Totally, utterly ridiculous. Let’s dissect this rubbish.

As an example, I’ll take Chili’s. A waitress at Chili’s was so kind as to comment saying that the price of food at her restaurant will increase by 3 times – $30 for a $10 burger. Using the statistics she herself gave in her comment, there are 12 waiters (at full capacity) who need to be paid minimum wage. That’s $5 extra per hour per waiter making it a net total of $60 per hour that has to be added to the price of food on a full day.

$60/hr? For 12 waiters. That’s it! It’s peanuts. If you assume even that each waiter is serving just four tables. That’s $5 an hour extra they have to make from four tables. Even if we say that each table sits for a massive two hours, the extra paid per table is way less than $5. On the total bill. Worst, worst case scenario.

You know what? Customers won’t even notice. So stop the garbage about the prices of food going up several times to pay minimum wage. It’s utter nonsense. The only reason waiters don’t want this system in place is because they earn a hell of a lot more than than minimum wage using our tips. And they come across as the victims.

Waiters are Struggling Mothers/Students

Look, it’s not as if I don’t have sympathy for those who struggle in life. I just don’t think it’s my problem. And I specially don’t like it being impinged upon me. Generosity is one thing. Having money demanded from you is something totally else. Any tip I give is out of the generosity of my heart and I expect some gratitude for helping those in need. It’s not something I have to do since…refer to Myth 1.

Bottom line: Socially mandated tipping is a scam. I can’t believe how intelligent people have been hoodwinked into it. Probably because they like to come across as “nice” people and feel sorry for servers who hover around looking expectantly. Well, I find that irritating and I won’t buy into it.

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Comments

While i vehemently disagree I understand your pov. Basically your goings with a “Don’t hate the player, hate the game” mentality. I agree if tipping spontaneously ceased it would not bring the food industry crashing down; it would simply leave the US waiter system as one only upscale restaurants (where tipping is usually required and worked into the bill) would use. All lower tier joints would be forced to become buffets which you admitted you prefer.
I will say you should avoid restaurants with waiters knowing you won’t tip if you can. People who don’t eat out are frugal or cheap for whatever reason which is fine.Those who “Dine and dash” are screwing everyone over which makes them scum, but they’re crooks acting like crooks.
Paying the establishment but not your server? That’s just bad form. It may be a cultural norm you disagree with and thats fine. But by tricking waiters into serving you for free you are basically a parasite. I don’t think you’re correct about owners being legally required to pay minimum wage; I do know most don’t.
It is a system set up by the greedy which preys on those too unfortunate to pursue other options. Thats not your doing, but your philosophy only awards the amoral. To be fair, more liberal minded do the same by shopping at WalMart – albeit to a much lesser degree.
Long story short: stick to buffets, or kindly inform waiters upfront you dont’t beleive in tiiping, but do believe in gojng to management with complements or complaints…. and examine your food carefully.

Waiters do not make minimum wage. They make 2.13 an hour where I am from. The only income that we receive is in tips.

The second I walk up to a table and ask the customer for their drink order I am judging how much money I will make off of them. If they are an asshole just like you then they will have a terrible time. No refills, food will be cold, and they will be charged for every crumb that touches the table.
I do this for a few reasons:
#1 If the person wants to be an asshole then they deserve the experience to match their personality.
#2 I have tons of other guests to take care of that will pay me much more than said ass hole and they will get better service because they purchased it with a tip.
#3 I never want to meet that ass hole again and I want to make a terrible impression that if they come back and try to sit I’m my section that they will get the same service. I do this so other decent humans that are more worth my time can come and have a wonderful experience in my section at my restaurant.

I am great at what I do, and on average I make about 1300 a week as a full time college student, and a full time employee. This is wonderful money for me and it works with my schedule.

Basically, you are more than welcome to eat the food at my restaurant, by all means come back as much as you want, just don’t expect it to be pleasant.

QUOTE: “Waiters do not make minimum wage. They make 2.13 an hour where I am from”

Bzzzz.

Under U.S. law waiters must be paid a minimum wage of $7.25 (including tips). If customers suddenly boycotted tipping, and the boss is only paying $2.25 per hour, then he is required to pay the additional $5/hour from his own pocket (or face prosecution & jail time). The minimum wage is the minimum wage, and there is no exception.

ALSO: I routinely eat at a restaurant called Gordon Ramsay Steak. Last year he earned 10,000,000 dollars, while I only earned 40,000. Instead of subtracting money from poor customers like myself (via tipping)…… the rich fat man should be giving them higher pay! I cannot afford it, but Mr. 10 Million Dollar Chef certainly can.

Dave Head-
Your answers and comments are 100% true…in theory. The problem is the restaurants themselves don’t have to make up the difference in mind wage week to week…it only has to be above min wage for the year…So yes a server can make GOOD money around the holiday season..or big restaurant days like Mothers Day, St Patty’s day etc… and that technically keeps them at min wage for the year (tax purposes) but there are plenty of weeks that a server won’t make shit and then falls behind on monthly bills (rent, phone, etc) and the restaurant itself doesn’t have to do a thing…also many non corporate places just ignore that law completely. I DEFINITELY AGREE that the Restaurant Owner or Franchise should be the one paying their employees a fair & living wage…they make the real $$$ and it shouldn’t be up to the family of 4 on a limited income to have to OVER TIP to have a server make ends meet. Restaurants should pay their employees and customers should tip if they feel the service was outstanding. This is not the servers decisio, and not tipping is sticking it to the victim not the Corporation that’s being CHEAP!! Thanks for making a rational argument.

Wage law is based on a 40-hour week schedule. If your employer is averaging your hourly rate beyond anything other than a week (a full year, as you suggest), they are simply breaking the law. The law also provides for you to recover your stolen wages.

So you openly admit to intentionally giving bad service to a paying customer because you prejudged them when they ordered drinks? Well aren’t you just delightful? That person that you prejudged and then decided to give awful service might have been a big tipper but because you are an asshole you’ll never no. More than that when I go out it’s a rare treat for me because I can’t afford to eat out very often. You’re not the only one with bills to pay little girl. Why is it my job to make up the difference between what your employer is paying you and what they should be paying you? The answer is that’s it’s not. Don’t like making 2.13 an hour? Get a different job.

The only income u get by being a waiter is tips??? Heres a great idea then. DONT BE A SODDING WAITRESS THEN ASSHOLE!!! We chose our work and if we end up doing something we dont Like then thats life. Stop demanding people pay for ur life. If u dont earn enough, work at another job and dont give me the crap about “i have kids, im a student” yes weve all bern there but we dont expect other people to fund our life. Grow up

Also why on earth are u saying “if they dont tip, they will get a bad service”??? Why the hell are u in customer service then??????? What a loadof crap. Ur calling customers who dont tip assholes & actually admitting whilat you are walking to their table u are calculating how much u can get out of people!! Geez u are lovely arent u. If u treat them like crap, they wont come back and ur our of a job u idiot. Customer service is being treating customers great so they return and keep u working. Not treating them like shit cos u can squeeze money out of them. That makes u a sponger and a scrounger. Id done waitressing and never expected a tip…..ever!! I saved and worked hard to get out of waitressing. Ur whiny as hell. If u dont like treating people well and dont like ur job change it. Dickhead!! Whats wrong with the world is people wanting things for nothing. Grow a spine and do ur job or sod off to another company. Company should pay decent wages but if they Dont then leave and try elsewhere. Stop whinging amd expecting others to fund u.

I make 2.13 an hour. I am a highly skilled and knowledgeable person about food, wine, customs of other cultures and people. I offer you the opportunity to follow me on one shift to see all the person you see as a conveyer belt does to bring you a great dining experience.

You are not “entitled” to a tip!!!! If u dont like it change ur job. If u get a tip thats great but stop expecting it. I do loads in my job for people, i go above and beyond but dont expect a tip. Grow up! If people demand tips everybody would be doing it.

Why is it bad form when it’s a dysfunctional cultural practice that’s practiced practically nowhere else in the world? Also, tipped employees HAVE to be paid the federal minimum wage by their employer if they do not earn enough in tips that amount to them getting paid at least $7.25/hour. So you need to do your homework there. Nobody is “scamming” anybody into anything. If anything, restaurants that expect you to fork over extra $$ because they don’t want to pay servers a decent hourly wage are the real scammers. Use your brain.

Good luck finding 5 waiters to wait tables for min wage with no tips, you show me a waitress that works every night and clears at minimum wage, and I’ll show you a waitress that is looking for a second job or a replacement job. Restaurants would have to pay $15-$20 an hour to keep a staff. That’s how you get a $30 hamburger.

How will it be higher that the current price + tips? the waiters with tips or without will still get salary that the customers pay for, except that now the customer needs to calculate the tip and in the future it will be included in the price of the food.

The argument above states that if you pay minimum wage without tips, the price of food would not increase, I agree, but no waitress is going to do that job for minimum wage, would have to pay them way more, the price of the food would increase 2-3 times. Everyone would then have to pay the higher amount for the food and essentially be “tipping” equally, I wouldn’t mind that at all, but that would be the only way to eliminate tipping, not paying minimum wage as the author argues. It all evens out in the tipping world, that’s what I learned, you have those that are overly generous, those that tip what they can, and then those that think they are above those that are providing a service to them and feel they don’t have to tip. In a system where tips are not a part of that persons wage, they will be the ones getting the worst of it, so, by all means, change the system.

By law a employe that is paid as a “Tipped Employe” is not required to receive minimum wage. Not sure where you came up with this comment:

$Bill – “They already make minimum-wage without tip stupid. It would be simple to find a waitress to do the job without tips. A waitress is a dime a dozen and easily replaced.”

Minimum wage in colorado is about $8/hour. A tipped employ’s minimum wage is $4/hour + Tips.

As for your other comment:

$Bill – “I do not value what a waiter or waitress does. It is a simple unskilled job. They make minimum-wage not including tips so they are more than fairly paid.”

I would challenge you to get a serving job and after training and learning all the food and allergies that go along with each plate to work a weekend shift. I doubt you will think the same way after a month of working as a server.

Another challenge if you don’t want to go get a job as a server. Just eat in for a full month. Don’t order take out, don’t go eat with friends, don’t get a drink at a bar. Just the grocery store. Since you don’t value what a server does you should have no problem taking on: prep work, some cooking, plating your meal, setting the table, cleaning, and doing this for you and all your guests.

Server are NOT PAID STANDARD MIN WAGES. Tipped employees usually make $3-4 dollars an hour plus tips. That same server also has to tip out (give money to) busters, food runners, bartenders etc…so the TIPS are the “paycheck” so to speak. And anyone calling serving a no skill job or easy, has never worked in hospitality a day in their life….it’s simple…Here in the good old USA we tip our servers. If you don’t like that custom, nobody is forcing you to go out to eat. Keep your cheap assume at home.

Server are NOT PAID STANDARD MIN WAGES. Tipped employees usually make $3-4 dollars an hour plus tips. That same server also has to tip out (give money to) busters, food runners, bartenders etc…so the TIPS are the “paycheck” so to speak. And anyone calling serving a no skill job or easy, has never worked in hospitality a day in their life….it’s simple…Here in the good old USA we tip our servers. If you don’t like that custom, nobody is forcing you to go out to eat. Keep your cheap assume at home.

People should be allowedto eat out without being insulted for not tipping. Doesnt usa keep sprouting about freewill and free choice! Ha funny how it goed away where money is involved. I go out and tip sometimes but not always. My choice and in uk tipping is not demanded by staff ever!!

Server are NOT PAID STANDARD MIN WAGES. Tipped employees usually make $3-4 dollars an hour plus tips. That same server also has to tip out (give money to) busters, food runners, bartenders etc…so the TIPS are the “paycheck” so to speak. And anyone calling serving a no skill job or easy, has never worked in hospitality a day in their life….it’s simple…Here in the good old USA we tip our servers. If you don’t like that custom, nobody is forcing you to go out to eat. Keep your cheap assume at home.

People will hate me, but I agree 100%.
It IS in fact the responsibility of the owner to PAY THE PEOPLE HE IS EMPLOYING.
Not mine, not yours, not anyone elses.

I dont tip my mailman, or the delivery guy, or the girl at the grocery checkout counter.
Why not?
Because thats not my job, its not on me, and as the post said, should not be impinged upon me with an added helping of guilt.

I’m so tired of people not thinking this through. If you want the employer to pay the full wage of a serve the. Get ready to pay the difference. If you want your burger to cost $25-$30 vs $10-$12 then by all means let’s switch the system. Not only will you have to pay way more for your burger but you will essentially tip all waiter the same % across the board.

Please explain how in countries like Canada burgers are $10-$12 yet we pay servers a min wage. That cost increase prediction is BS just to keep employers off the hook from paying wages and gives employees the ability to make money hand over fist.

I felt the same way about tipping as the author does for a long time. I realized that the reason why tipping exists is that even people with no skills (most waiters/waitresses/actors/actresses) have to be motivated to do this kind of service work for any period of time beyond a few months. In any low wage job, there is a lot of turnover as the workers aren’t incentivized to keep at it because there is little upside – typically these people are not going to make more money and training them to do anything else is going to come at a cost to the employer, who has already invested significant capital into setting up a restaurant. Most low-wage jobs happen to be service jobs where low-skilled workers are dealing with people, and this is a tough thing to do, day in and out, driving many people to leave this type of work with astonishing frequency. Serving people can be awful. While there are lifer waiters/waitresses, customers expect to see quite a bit of turnover in these roles when visiting their favorite restaurants. When I was in college, I worked in retail prior to graduation, and working with the general public is something that I’m happy to never have to do again. Why do you think we make people with low skills work with the general public? Because the general public is mostly petty, demanding, entitled and stupid and people with more skills definitely won’t agree to do a job like that. If I were an owner of a high end restaurant, either I would pay more to the servers as they are one of the faces of the restaurant, as a customer’s experience at the restaurant is also colored by the service received, not only by the quality of the food, or I would explain in the menu that there is a separate charge for gratuity that will be calculated as a percentage of the bill (also unfair, but that’s a simple solution). Right now, I see that restaurants are reluctant to impose a required gratuity rule as they feel that some of the decision of how much to tip should be left to the customer’s discretion based on the service the customer received. When restaurants do this, if a customer is upset about the service, the restaurant has effectively maintained an arm’s-length from having to be responsible for the waiter’s poor service, which is also shitty. A restaurant can keep a customer and fire a bad waiter. The waiter is also put into a tough spot by having to behave as an independent contractor without any of the autonomy of an independent contractor (and no commensurate ability to command wages like an independent contractor – you can’t be an independent contractor if your work isn’t in demand). I don’t like the restaurant chickening out like this when they back away from paying the server what they should because it places the burden of an additional transaction, separate from the meal, onto the customer. Personally, I think the restaurants should just build in the amount of money it would required to entice someone with low skills to work at a job like this for an extended period of time into the cost of the dish. Most restaurants won’t, which means that the waiter/waitress will shake you down for tips even though their skills don’t justify the additional compensation – they should feel thankful that they even have a job, let alone one that will allow them to benefit from the kindness of strangers even though their skills are rudimentary. One day, Silicon Valley will figure out how to make robots do this job and people without skills will receive the greatest tip of all, a guaranteed minimum income set by the government.

I am a single mother and was raised in Christian faith and by a very good family. I enjoy the restaurant industry and have been working in it for almost 12 years. I am a kind and humble person. I have a college education and was raised by a family of teachers. I named my son after my grandfather who had his Ph.D. In the science of teaching. I am very insulted that you said multiple times that people working in the restaurant industry have low skills. You and the people you agree with are what is wrong with this world and it saddens me that I was even compelled to respond to your arrogant remarks because I a low skilled server bartender shouldnt let assholes like you get the best of me. Gods peace.

You seriously want to consider that not a real job? You clearly have not served tables before. I challenge you to do that job for a month. I doubt you would last the entire time.

On another note, who would serve all you stuck up pricks? Say goodbye to all 3-5 star restaurants. Do you want to read about all your food options? Do you know enough about wine and beer to order all that yourself.

Lol you dumb shit. Every comment I have read from you is wrong and all the reasons why tipping unskilled workers that can’t find a real job use to justify their lives. Go try working at McDonalds for a full month for a full shift and you will see even a line worker does more work than you and much more efficient.

You say you have read all my comments yet you reply with a joke of a reply. If you have read all my comments then you would see all the link that support how the tipping system works and why we use it. You on the other hand didn’t even present a argument. I worked as a waiter for 12 years saving up money to open my own buisness. I know hard work sir. If you think McDonalds employees work hard then you don’t know what hard work is. Its not hard hard to serve pre-made food. If thats what you do then go do something with your life.

If you want to have a actual debate instead of using your third grade reading level then tell me why I am wrong instead of just calling people names. Until then shut your mouth and go educate yourself on how the system works. I provided links in almost all my comments.

Oh and Jason do you know what you don’t tip the Mcdonalds employee? Wells besides that they can’t get your pre made food order correct?

If you can tell me why then I might listen to you. But your argument that McDonalds employees work harder then a server is a joke. Didn’t catch that at first but man are you just dumb? They barley have to move. Wonder why they all weigh an extra few pounds? Hmmmm?

Go educate yourself. Better yet don’t. Stay ignorant. I kinda like people like You, Roger, and Bhagwad. Why you ask? Your all cannon fodder. Just a bunch of sheep stuck in their world without the motivation to educate yourselves. You just think what you are told, then do as your told. I bet you all think raising the minimum wage to $15 a hour is a good idea as well. If you do let me know so I can show you why that is a stupid idea as well. That argument can be won hands down in one to two sentences.

You can now go back to working for some other person that decides what you are worth. Or more likely sitting on the couch not amounting to anything.

And the majority of these idiots aren’t waiters or waitresses which take years of training under strict rules in a high setting restaurant. Most of these idiots are servers, plate getters and pompous mediocre workers that expect an easy way in life so look where you ended up. You really think you’re better than a Walmart employee that has to make numbers to keep their job? And the fact you can’t do math “3x the price of food” tells anyone with a 6th grade equivalency in math that you are exactly where you belong and why you’re justifying a handout especially in states like California where everyone gets paid a minimum wage.

Roger I think you need to do more research before you start a debate. Servers in California are no diffrent then anywhere else. Tipped Employees have a diffrent starting wage then they do in other states and it just happens to be higher there.

And I can’t do math??? Saying “3x the price of food” is the correct way to say that unless you give a exact food price. Or was i supposed to just throw out a random number for you. But I guess I will break it down for you.

Using the CO tipping system:
Colorado has a Tipped Employee wage of about $4. When I go out to eat I pay about $12 for a burger. Then lets add a beer to the tab at $7. Your total bill is now $19 for one person. That person will probably be at that table for about a hour and they will tip on average about $4.

Colorado minimum wage is about $8. So after that person leaves that table the serve would be paid $8. So far this seems fair. But that is all you people see. What happens with the other $11? If we just stick with minimum wage (and it would not work this way) lets pay out the rest of the staff. Kitchen staff: 2 Line cooks 2x$8 = $16, Floor manager $8, Host $8, Food Runner $8, and Bar Tender $8. Grand total = $48 + Food cost. That means a single server would have to serve 5 tables a hour to break even on just the staff costs alone (assuming we just pay everyone minimum wage). Then you add cost of rent and taxes and you are in for a real treat.

Now say its 4pm and there are two servers on the floor and almost no customers are coming in because its the slow part of the day. Now you have no income. How do you cut back on lost costs? You create the Tipped Employee. By doing this you still pay a person for being there but they dont eat into your cash flow when its flow but reward you and the employee when its busy.

Now getting back to the 3x price of food. Since I am loosing double my money on each employee and the extra taxes I have to pay due to their higher wages I have to raise my cost of product, in this case food. We went from $4 to $8 a hour. There is 1x, and now we hit the slow hours so now I am making less income yet still pay our double for part of my staff there is another 1x. Then because I pay my employees more the government charges more taxes on money payed to staff, and there is your last 1x. Total 3x of food. For the bill above = $57

Now explaining this is hard to do and I doubt your brain maid all the links so I am going to also recommend you go take a buisness class and learn what the fuck you are talking about. I run a buisness and you and a lot of the people on here can’t see past you sad little worlds to see what it takes to run one. Especially a restaurant. Where they have the lowest profit margins out of most buisness created and thats with the tipping system.

Oh and work on your english. You contradicted your self just by your vocabulary alone more then once.

If what you wrote makes sense to you, you should really follow your own advice to and “go take a business class”. You might also want to brush up on some U.S. labor law as well.

Re-adding in the inherent overhead costs with menu prices DOES NOT 3X COST INCREASE MAKE if tipping were abolished at a matter of practice.

A 20% increase to menu prices covers the cash flow lost if tipping were abolished, assuming everyone really tipped 20%. Getting rid of tipping alters how this cash can be distributed and where obligation burden manifests. Primarily, the owner now has the freedom to distribute any excess from the fair wage they provide the server. Since all servers appropriately tip-out to other staff, this really should not be a big deal. The tax burden shifted to the owner is net zero, as every restaurant worker claims every tip they receive. And now the restaurant owner can more easily assign some non-serving duties to cover some of those things that just need to be done and any slow times.

Since no server cheats on taxes, doesn’t cheat any other members of their restaurant team, and isn’t afraid of any hard work, the hostility toward the mere suggestion of ‘time to change’ is confusing.

One I am a business owner and two and this is where I know more then you I was in the service/restaurant industry for almost 12 years.

But sure we will go with what you think in that I am ignorant of labor laws and cash flow. That being said if I am ignorant of labor laws your are implying that 100% of all business using the tipping system are operating illegally. But sure we can go with that.

Either way you and others that don’t think it won’t increase by at least 3x the amount are looking at tipping from a server serving one table. Granted my example is kinda using the same but take this into consideration. One server serves has a 4 table section and serves all 5 in one hour. say each one of his tables has a $25 tab (rather low but it will work for the example) making his hourly tab $100. His tip take away doing a moderately good job at 18% is $18 + hourly (for CO that is about $4) making hit take away for the hour $22/hour.

So the employer now has to pay $22/hour vs $4/hour. Pretty sure that is more then 3x the cost to the employer if I do my math right.

Not only that but you are now giving the owner the option and he will change prices assuming 20+%

You need to spend time in the industry. Anyone thinking that getting rid of tips helps one side or the other or both they are just wrong. Being a small business owner and looking at my numbers I would gladly make make employees tipped employees. If they got tipped at each house they went to and tipped every time them mowed a lawn I would save money, my customers would save A LOT of money, and my employees would earn more.

And if you have ever been served outside the US at a basic restaurant you would notice the level of service difference in a instant. My employees gain nothing in fact they loose out by completing more lawns in a shorter time. Same with serves. That is why its exponential and why servers turn tables.

The reason its 3x vs percentage is that. A table that just comes to chat and doesn’t turn does not increase tips. Sure his hourly stays the same but if a server can turn tables he blows past his hourly rate in no time.

Also anytime a business takes in a commodity it is taxed. It is taxed differently then a contractor or a employe. So no the tax rates would not be the same and they have to pay a higher sum the higher higher the pay check for each employe due to taxes. The percentages are just diffrent

Let’s take Australia as an example. Besides the fact that in nicer restaurants a tip of anywhere between 5-15% is left optionally, restaurant staff are paid a “living” wage, normally between $20-30 an hour. In addition, the cost of food is generally about 2-3x as much as in the US; as an American living in Australia, that seems to be typical across the board. So, congratulations. You’re the entitled prick who has other, decent people subsidising your would-be $30 burger.

Thank goodness. I thought I was the only person on here with any common sense. Nice to hear from someone outside the states that can show these fools how it works outside the US and why they are all idiots. Your not the only one but defiantly one of the few. Well said sit, well said.

“Restaurant staff are paid a “living” wage, normally between $20-30 an hour.” Mark you’ve been living outside the US too long. They won’t pay Fast Food workers $15 an hour. There isn’t a snowballs chance in hell anyone will pay a server $20 to $30 an hour. Comparing any other country to the US is an apples to oranges comparison just based on how labor is paid in the US. Attitudes are vastly different,making a comparison a false equivalency.

I don’t believe someone can be that stupid & think all servers across the country make $10.00 per hr & everyone else is making shit up. I’m sure in many restaurants some servers make better hourly then others but its not equal across the board. As a former server and veteran in the hospitality business I do thank you for tipping 20% if you get good service. Fair or not servers depend on tips as their main source of income. If you dont have enough money to tip maybe go to a different restaurant thats better for your budget…or most places offer carry out. That way you get the food you want but that table remains open for a different customer who might have the $$ to tip correctly l.

Socially mandated is an oxymoron. If YOU sucumb to peer pressure, you’re a degenerate fuck who needs to kill him/herself. We waiters who roll in the dough (I make 35 dollars an hour working 6 hour shifts, brunch, AND I set my own schedule, picking up shofts as I please..) don’t care about your half-witted, collectivist greivances. You don’t have to tip 😀😁😂, you’re ONE idiot, who’ll get shit service for being an idiot, and management sides with their good servers (we actually charm management more than customers, that way, management feels like it’s an isolated case, and it isn’t enough to lose their good servers from) so you still lose, and will lose everytime. I’m telling you the absolute truth, if you don’t like it, change the system. But these retarded web blogs are not the way to go. This is useless lol.

None of these arguments mean shit..
Bottom Line is…if you go to a full service sit-down restaurant and take up a servers table & do not tip…You are basically stealing money out of that servers pocket. Its simple really…by taking up that table you are preventing another customer who IS WILLING TO TIP a chance to sit in that servers section which prevents the server from making that money…So if you want that food….get it to go or eat in your car or standing in the lobby. Anything else and you are stealing & that makes you a piece of shit cheap ass rat bastard…good day!!

steal /stēl/ verb
gerund or present participle: stealing
1. take (another person’s property) without permission or legal right and without intending to return it.

Since I performed the service of pointing out how stupid you are, you owe me $50. Other people pay me all the time for this. Better pay because otherwise you would be needlessly taking up my time that I could be using toward someone willing to pay. It’s a social contract.